Newman's Own Organics, Inc., which makes the "Newman's Own" brand of organic snack foods, added a new Caramel variety to its line of Chocolate Cups.

Everything in a Newman's Own Chocolate Cup is supposed to made from purely organic ingredients. The chocolate is made of organic cacao originating from small farmers in the Talamanca region of Costa Rica.

The new Caramel Cups actually includes two types, Milk Chocolate and Dark Chocolate.

I don't normally do taste tests here at Junk Food Blog, but this is one of those rare times that I will.

Summary: Barf!!!

World Kitchens is a brand of beef jerky I found at the supermarket yesterday. I'm always buying beef jerky and sunflower seeds as my blog staple of choice, and I needed to replenish.

I bought this particular bag of jerky because it contained a full pound (16oz) of jerky, compared to the 4oz you often see with other brands. Moreover, it only costs $9.99, compared to $5.99 for the 4oz competitor brands. What a deal I thought!

I bought the Teriyaki flavor.

The very first taste told me right away something was wrong. It didn't taste like jerky. Yes, it did have a teriyaki flavor, but it was almost like this stuff was very old. I checked the expiration date, it was dated for "09/20/07", still plenty fresh.

I gave the piece some chews and it crumbled apart into pieces. It's obviously not real chunks of meat. The package does say, "BEEF JERKY", and the ingredients does say, "sliced beef", but beef could be from any part of the animal. There's beef hearts, beef tongue, beef liver, beef kidney, etc.

Chewing further on, this stuff started tasting like liver. Honestly, I don't know what this stuff is made out of.

The package says the jerky is actually made in Brazil, and distributed to the USA by BrucePac, apparently the company that owns the World Kitchens brand.

Interestingly, the company has published a long list of customer comments from its most loyal of fans.

I think I'll save the rest of it for my dogs. I hope they'll understand.

Arico Natural Foods of Beaverton, OR has extended their line of 100% Natural Cookies, with two new varieties, and a new package type.

New flavors include "Lemon Ginger", described as having a citrus snap, and there's "Triple Berry", identified as a sweet combination of blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries.

The cookies are gluten-free and casein-free, and are made with more than 70% organic ingredients. Kinda curious how a "100% Natural Cookie" is made with 70% organic ingredients.

But, they're sweetened only with organic agave nectar instead of sugar, making it diabetic-friendly, and contain only 90 calories per serving.

The new package type is a resealable plastic tub each containing 9 cookies, and are priced between $5.49 to $5.89. Previously, cookies were packaged in a box of 12.

Arico's website currently only sells their four existing flavors, Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chip, Almond Cranberry, and Double Chocolate, and only sells the boxed package. Not sure when the two new flavors and the new plastic tubs will appear on their online ordering form.

"Mayan Chocolate" is the latest flavor in the line of Haagen-Dazs ice cream.

They said they were inspired by the original chocolate crafted by the Mayans more than 2,500 years ago. They take their chocolate ice cream, blend in rich dark Mayan Chocolate swirl, and throw in a hint of cinnamon, to create a magical Mayan offering.

The "Cashew" variety is said to be dipped in cashew butter coating, while the "Roasted Mixed Nut" variety is supposed to combine peanuts, almonds, and cashews dipped in a roasted mixed nut butter coating.

Snyder's of Hanover began shipping its new Baked Potato Crisps last month under their EatSmart brand.

They're described as bite-sized, crunchable snacks made from potatoes. Snyder's says they're actually better for you than traditional potato chips because they're baked, containing only 1.5 to 2.5 grams of fat per serving, with 0 grams of trans fat and saturated fat.

Available in three flavors, Zesty Ranch, Jalapeno Cheddar, and Baked Sweet Potato.

Available in most stores where the EatSmart brand is sold, or buy them online by the case.

One variety combines the cacao beans with macadamia nuts. The other variety combines it with raisins and coconut.

Garden of Life says they buy freshly picked cacao beans at a fairly traded price from small family farms in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Then they ferment the beans to bring out their rich chocolate taste. Finally, they sun dry, slowly roast, coarsely crack, and sweeten the beans with a touch of sugar cane syrup.

The line of energy bars, packaged in wrappers depicting guys building stuff, are packed with 20 grams of protein from soy and nuts. They contain 32 percent to 35 percent organic ingredients, have no trans fats, no partially hydrogenated oils, and are billed as a low glycemic food.

Other varieties include, Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and Cookies and Creme.

Sold in the USA in a single-serve 16 fl. oz. can, the Team Hogan energy drink, used under license, said to be specifically designed to deliver an impact of energy fortified with taurine, vitamins B12, B6 and horny goat weed to help endurance while increasing mental awareness without unwanted carbohydrates.

I haven't been blogging much energy drinks, though it's not like there's been a shortage of them. In most cases, it's all the same ingredients, and the only thing interesting are the graphics on the cans. BevNET does a much better job on junk drinks.

16 May, 2006

Frito-Lay announced earlier this month that it modified its popular Lay's and Ruffle's brand of potato chips by switching to NuSun sunflower oil from cottonseed oil.

The company claims the potato chips will have 50% less saturated fat without having changed the taste. As a result, the chips will also have increased mono- and polyunsaturated fats, commonly known as "good fats". The chips will still have 0 grams of trans fats.

The new formulation potato chips are selling right now in the northeast USA, and will be nationally available by the end of the year.

15 May, 2006

1 & Only is a recent product from S&S Candy, combining popular brands of candies, chocolates, and cookies into one big sugary mess.

It comes in two package varieties, a red package and a brown package. Both packages feature Famous Amos brand cookies, a chocolate chip cookie, and a creme-filled chocolate cookie (similar to an Oreo). Both cookies have a chocolate peanut butter cup stuck to the top. The difference is that each concoction has different sprinkles between the two parts.

12 May, 2006

Jamaica a L'Ancienne (pictured) is described as a 70 percent cacao, pure dark chocolate bar. It blends together Jamaican Trinitario cacao nibs, Scharffen Berger 99 percent cacao unsweetened chocolate, and coarse cane sugar into a particular order and ratio to achieve the perfect balance of flavor and texture. $8.00

Kumasi Sambirano is described as a 68 percent cacao, pure dark chocolate bar. It contains a blend of Ghanaian Forastero beans with the "bright citrus tones" of Madagascar Trinirtario beans. $6.00.

The line of Bubble Chocolates are similar to the Nestle Aero, a chocolate bar filled with bubbly pockets of air. Product literature says...

"Take one bite for a taste when you bite into this aerated chocolate bar, and then get a second special sensation as it melts on the tongue... Rich milk chocolate wraps a light and bubbly chocolate creme filling. The result is a luxurious bar light as a pastry, with a scrummy texture and the taste of chocolate wrapped upon chocolate bubbles. The bubbly creme seems to bring out the chocolate flavor, making it light and teasing the palate."

We first reported Bubble Wrap Candy last August on our sister blog, Strange New Products.

A "Brownies 'n Cream" ice cream sandwich is the latest product to come out from the tag-team combination of Kemps LLC and Pillsbury.

Over a year ago, the two companies joined forces to introduce a new line of ice cream flavors. This new Brownies 'n Cream product continues the partnership. Kemps does the manufacturing, while Pillsbury gets to put its image on it.

I have very little info to go on.

It looks very similar to a "Fat Boy", an ice cream sandwich that my brother loves to eat.

It's billed as a "High Impact Gharana Bar", to provide a boost of energy.

Mad Dog is mostly a chocolate-coated rice & peanut bar but infused with the energy ingredients of guarana and ginseng, as well as hemp seed and vitamin C. The company claims it's "like slamm'n 2 cups of java".

The new bar is retailing at locations in British Columbia, but can also be purchased online.

Hershey's Ice Cream, which is in no way connected with Hershey's Chocolate, has long offered Moose Tracks ice cream under a licensing agreement with Denali. Because of the success of this flavor, Hershey's has expanded the madness in cake form.

The cake starts out with Hershey's vanilla ice cream. Then it's topped with Moose Tracks fudge, and sprinkled with peanut butter cups.

It feeds 8-10 people, and can be found whereever Hershey's Ice Cream is sold.